


Coffee on the corner

by MilkC



Category: Dear Evan Hansen - Pasek & Paul/Levenson
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Connor is nicer, Evan is bad at jokes, Everyone Is in College, F/M, Fluff, Memes, Murphy's own a coffee shop, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sibling Bonding, Zoe and Connor can tolerate each other, crossy road
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-18 09:42:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29980980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MilkC/pseuds/MilkC
Summary: Just another day at the Murphy's coffee shopOrThe Murphy's own a coffee shop in this AU
Relationships: Alana Beck & Evan Hansen & Zoe Murphy, Alana Beck & Jared Kleinman, Evan Hansen/Zoe Murphy
Comments: 3
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

**October 23rd, 8:00am**

It was an early morning in the bustling streets of New York. People were rushing to work on all modes of transport. Bikes, cars, the Subway you name it. It was also the peak of the morning rush hour which was always chaotic. Around the same time, a little coffee shop on a street corner was opening for the day.

Evan was opening up the doors of Murphy’s coffee shop today. He wasn’t usually the opener (normally the closer) but today they were short on staff, so he had to fill in. He turned around the ‘closed’ sign to the ‘open’ sign and opened the glass doors. As he did, the sound of loud car horns filled his ears. That’s how he definitely knew it was the morning rush hour. He sighed as he walked back to the counter, waiting for people to arrive. As he waited, the ‘manager’ of the establishment came out from the back to check on everything.

“Evan... how are you today?” Connor asked as he was looking down at his phone.

“Hi Connor.” he said with a little wave. “I’m… I’m doing well, what about you?”

“Alright, I guess.” he put down his phone down and looked at him. “A bit stressed though, I have to be manager for the day again since my dad is on another business trip. That’s not even the stressful part though, a new shipment of milk was supposed to arrive like an hour ago, but it never did.”

“Oh, I hope it arrives soon…” Evan replied as he broke eye contact with him and keenly stared at the door.

“CONNOR, WE’RE OUT OF MILK!” Zoe yelled from the back room as she checked their storage. “HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO MAKE COFFEE WITHOUT MILK!?”

He sighed. “YES, I KNOW. YOU ALREADY TOLD ME THIS. THE SUPPLY IS COMING TODAY SO SHUT UP ABOUT IT!”

Connor turned back to Evan who had an odd look on his face. It was a mix of confusion and realisation.

“...If you didn’t know, that’s my sister Zo-”

“Yeah, I know that’s Zoe. I’ve worked here long enough to know who everyone is and we go to the same College.”

“Oh, if you knew then why do you have that look on your face?”

“I... I just didn’t know, she was here. That’s all.” he replied with a slight shakiness in his voice.

“Okay. I’ll be seeing you I guess.” Connor walked away looking back at his phone. He didn’t know Evan too well. He too also went to the same College as Evan, but they only really ever interacted at work.

Evan sighed and got back to waiting. Normally people would start flooding in for their daily coffee but today was just a slow day. After more minutes of waiting finally someone came in. It was one of the regulars. For a small business, they did get a good number of customers and a good number of regulars.

“Hey kid, just the regular please.” the man said quite quickly. By the looks of it, he was in quite a rush.

Evan stood there for a second, all flustered. He was a closer not an opener, so he had no idea what this guys’ ‘regular’ drink was. Not knowing what to, he just smiled at the man as he tapped his foot on the ground.

“...Did you hear me? My regular please?” he said, a bit louder this time.

“ _ Come on Evan say… say something! Say like ‘Oh, can you please tell me what you want. I don’t work in the morning, so I have no idea, sorry!’ See that’s perfect! ...Wait no, no, no. Don’t say that it sounds so unprofessional and kinda cringey. Ummm…. oh, how about ‘What is your regular again, I forgot?’. That’s good! ...Wait no. That makes me sound like… like I just forget everything, well I do but he doesn’t need to know that. Besides, if I say I forget then it doesn’t just make me sound bad, it makes the whole business bad and you know, one bad review can ruin the whole place and I don’t want that to happen _ !” Evan thought to himself.

“Kid are you alright?” the man asked, starting to get impatient with him.

“ _ Come on Evan! Say anything!” he thought again, trying to figure out what to say. _ ” ...I’ll get on that right now. Sorry… sorry for that, I just zoned out a bit there.” Evan replied with a bit of nervous laughter. He saw the look on his face, and he didn’t look too pleased, so he added a bit of laughter to calm the situation.

“It’s fine. Just hurry up, I got somewhere to be, you know the morning rush.” the man responded with some of his own laughter.

Evan nodded. He turned around and got to work. “ _Fuuuuu- I have no idea what I’m doing, why did I say, ‘I’ll get on that right now’!? What am I supposed to make him, I can’t just make anything!? What have I gotten myself into…_ ” Evan pondered in his head weighing in his options. For now, he just had to pretend to be making coffee, he just hoped something could save him now…

The man watched him as he had nothing else to do. He didn’t really look like he was doing much and when he did something, it looked like he was doing it slow on purpose. Evan couldn’t see him, but he started to get frustrated.

Evan carried on doing… well nothing for five minutes. He knew the customer would say something, so he was just mentally preparing himself. Then, Zoe came out from the back. She gave a quick nod to the man (who nodded back) and went over to Evan. From what she saw when she was walking over, she was slightly confused.

“Hey Evan? What are you doing?” she whispered to him.

Evan was slightly startled by her but all in all was glad she came along when she did. “Zoe! I’m so glad you’re her, I need help. This guy wants a ‘regular’ but you know I don’t usually work mornings, so I have literally no idea what I’m doing. I’ve been stalling for the past five minutes, please help me.” he mumbled to her quite quickly.

“Calm down, calm down. Don’t panic.” she said sweetly. “I got this; you can just stand back now.” Zoe nudged him aside and did her thing.

Evan turned back around and noticed the man’s expression. He didn’t look too pleased at him, but Evan just smiled nervously and nodded. After more minutes of waiting, Zoe was finally down brewing the coffee.

She swiftly turned back around and handed him the coffee cup. “Here’s your coffee, Sir. Sorry for the wait.” Zoe said with a bright smile.

He paid. “Thanks.” Before he left, he eyed Evan one last time and headed out.

The pair watched him leave and as walked across the road, Evan breathed a sigh of relief. Thank god that awkward situation was over!

“You’re a lifesaver Zoe!” Evan exclaimed.

She snickered. “You’re welcome, I really got to fill you in with the regulars later and trust me more will be coming. But don’t worry, I’ll be here to help!”

“Thanks Zoe!” Evan said with a beaming smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be updating this every few days or so, so look out for that <3


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zoe and Evan make a surprisingly good team

**10:00am**

“Evan, you have already made table two’s order, right?” Zoe asked as she got out a cake from the display case. 

“Mhmmm, and you made table four’s right?” Evan asked as he made another cup of coffee and put it on a tray.

Zoe nodded and put the cake on the tray. From there, Evan went out to the main floor and served the food and drinks to the guests while Zoe was holding down the fort behind the counter. It had been over two hours since opening and it was still them two. Jared was supposed to arrive 30 minutes ago but he never showed, classic Jared. Luckily, Alana was scheduled to appear soon. Connor was there, and he checked up on them from time to time but he didn’t really do much to help. He was still unloading the milk shipment by himself as it just arrived moments ago.

“Here you go ma’am, that will be $2.50.” Zoe said to the women on the other side of the cash register.

“Here you go dear.” the woman said as she handed her the money with an extra dollar. “Keep the change, by yourself something nice.” the nice woman took her food and went to sit down.

Zoe smiled to herself as she looked down at the extra dollar the elderly woman had given her. She put the $2.50 in the cash register and pocketed the extra dollar.

Alana finally appeared from the back and went up to Zoe. “Hey Zoe.” 

“Alana!” she exclaimed happily. “Thank god you're here, it’s been so busy. You know the morning rush. It’s literally just been me and Evan trying to serve everyone since Jared didn’t arrive and it’s exhausting.”

“Of course Jared is late, he is always late…” Alana replied with a slight smile. “Anyways, I’m here now. What do you want me to do?”

“Make a mocha for table seven and an espresso for table nine. That should be it… wait. Table seven also wanted a bagel so don’t forget that.” Zoe explained.

Alana gave a thumbs up and got to work. Zoe could finally have a breather and after she finished making this last cup of coffee, she was going to head to the break room to get a good break. It was only the start of the day and she was already tired.

Evan came back and took another tray, before he went to serve the designated table, he noticed Alana. “Alana! You’re here!” he exclaimed with a sigh of relief. 

“I am, sounds like you two have already been through a lot.”

“We have and to think it's only been two hours, like what the hell!” he exclaimed.

“Don’t worry, I’ll cover the next shift until lunch. And hopefully by then Jared will show up…” Alana muttered as she finished making the espresso.

“Thanks, now got to get back to work. See you in a bit!” Evan wandered back to the main floor with trays in each hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one's kinda short, the next one is longer (:


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More Zoe and Evan floof :3  
> ALSO THE INSANELY COOL JARED KLEINMAN HAS ENTERED THE BUILDING!

**11:00 am**

Zoe and Evan were hanging out in the break room, chilling. Evan was looking over at Zoe’s phone, watching her play some random game. 

“So, what is this game?” Evan asked curiously as he watched Zoe continuously tap the screen of her phone.

“It’s called Crossy Road. I play it when I’m bored or when I’m at work. It’s fun but definitely addictive.” Zoe said as she did a mix of swipes and taps. She kept pressing the screen but she did one too many times and her chicken character got hit by a car. “Awww, come on…” she said as she restarted the game.

“That’s a bit… violent. Maybe the chicken shouldn't have crossed the road.” Evan joked with a little smirk.

Zoe paused the game and turned to Evan, straight faced. Evan sat there looking around as she did. He found it very uncomfortable when someone made direct eye contact with him, especially if they looked amused or unhappy. After a few seconds, Zoe burst out into laughter. Evan was more confused but he just laughed along.

“Haha yes, my joke was really funny…” Evan mumbled, still puzzled.

“I’m sorry.” she calmed down her laughter. “That joke shouldn’t have been funny, but somehow it was, I don’t know how it was funny, maybe it was you but I couldn’t help myself from laughing!”

“It was a stupid joke, I’ll admit, but at least you laughed.” Evan said. “...And what do you mean by ‘maybe it was you’? What about me, is something wrong with me?”

“No, no! Nothing is wrong with you Evan, you’re perfect that way you are…” Zoe said with a comforting smile. “I mean, I just find it funny when you comment on random stuff. It’s just great and brightens my day.”

“Oh, thanks.” Evan said as he went a little red. 

Zoe went back to playing Crossy Road. She was pretty good at the game and Evan could tell by how she got far in the game. Her score was 300 and growing! As she kept speedily tapping, she made the same last mistake as last time. She tapped one too many times and walked straight into a river.

“DAMMIT!” Zoe yelled as she threw her phone on the ground in anger. “...Oops. I hope it didn’t crack.” she said as she bent over and picked up her phone. 

“Is there a crack?” 

Zoe closely inspected her phone to see if there were any little cracks. “Oh good, no cracks. You don’t know how many times I’ve done that. Thanks protective phone case!”

“You know what I find funny?” Evan asked, coming up with another playful comment.

“What?”

“I find it funny when you rage at video games.” Evan said with a chuckle.

“Oi!” Zoe laughed along but also gently hit Evan. “I’m not surprised you find it funny, I do it a lot when we have lunch breaks in school.”

“You do… to be honest I find it more cute than funny.” Evan admitted. 

“Oh really?” Zoe asked, also going red.

“You bet I do! You’re just so… so-” Evan froze. He really liked Zoe, they had been good friends since they had met which was only about two years ago. Evan liked his friendship with Zoe but he also felt that he wanted to be more than friends than her. However, he had no idea how to… tell her. 

“So…” Zoe said, waiting for his answer.

“So… errr-”

Before Evan got any words out, Connor burst into the room. “What’s going on here dorks!” he exclaimed as he jumped onto the couch that Evan and Zoe were both on.

“AH!” Evan exclaimed, startled by Connor’s sudden arrival. “...Oh Connor.” he wasn’t too happy that Connor scared him but he was happy that he burst in when he did. This meant he had more time to plan what he was going to say to Zoe.

“Why do you have to scare us like that!?” Zoe exclaimed as he pushed him off the sofa.

“Calm down, calm down… I’m just checking up on you guys. I am the manager and-”

“Manager, FOR THE DAY. Don’t forget that, and don’t let the power get to your head…” Zoe commented.

“ _Jealous._ ” he mumbled under his breath. 

“I heard that!” Zoe muttered as she crossed her arms and threw a cushion at him.

“Whatever… anyways, I also came to ask… have any of you seen Jared? He was supposed to be in like three hours ago but he’s a no show. I’m asking you specifically Evan because I know you’re friends with him and-”

“HELLOOOOOOOOO!” Jared yelled as he entered the break room.

“Jared! Finally…” the three choired in harmony.

“I am here, and I have entered the building!” Jared announced to the room.

“Where the hell have you been!? You’re three hours late!?” Connor exclaimed.

“Uhhh- my alarm… malfunctioned and you know, typical New York traffic.”

“You said that last time…” Zoe mentioned.

“No! Actually last time I said it was just traffic! Get your facts right, Zoe!” he said as mocked her.

“Ok, ok. Whatever Jared, I don’t really care, just get to work so Alana isn’t stressed…”

“Alright… toodles!” Jared threw his stuff in the room, turned around on his heel and went out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk why I chose Crossy Road for Zoe, it just seems like a game Zoe would play lol  
> 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jared has a talk with Evan plus Alana pops in. It's all memes

**12:00 pm**

“Did anything happen with you and Zoe?” Jared asked.

“No, I couldn’t find the words… that farthest I got to was ‘You’re so-’ and then just froze.” he admitted with a soft sigh.

“Compliments, huh… maybe if that doesn’t work for you, try the forward approach. Just ask her out directly. No compliments, just cut to the chase!”

“I could try that, I’ll just ask her out after work.”

“Now we’re talking!” Jared made finger guns at Evan. “You both finish work in a few hours right? It would be perfect!”

“No, not a few hours… remember. We all got extended shifts today as we’re low on staff, so we close at 5pm.”

“5pm!? Dammit, forgot about longer shifts. Got to text someone, one sec.” Jared got out his phone and messaged someone. Evan tried to look over at his phone but Jared kept moving away.

“Jared… what are you hiding?” Evan asked with a little laugh.

“It’s none of your business, now shoo-” As the person he was texting messaged him back, his expression turned from frowny to slightly happy.

“Jared’s got a girlfriend…” Evan sang.

“No I don’t! Shut up!” 

“Calm down, geez-”

Alana walked into the break room. “Hey, Evan. Hey Jared.” she said with a bright smile as she put away her phone.

“Hey Alana.” Evan waved at her.

“Heyo!” Jared exclaimed with a little smile.

“Has anyone seen Zoe? I heard from Connor she had encountered a crazy customer earlier and she got pretty upset afterwards.” 

Evan sat up almost immediately. “Is Zoe ok!?”

Alana shrugged. “I don’t really know to be honest. I just saw her storm out, I think she went to the park to cool down.”

“Well, that’s another one for the Karen counter…” Jared got up and got a chalkboard from under the sofa. He took off the chalk attached to it and jotted something down on it.

“Karen counter? …Wait, no you actually did it. Jared…” Alana said when she realised what he was talking about. Jared smirked at her and in return, she rolled her eyes. 

“‘Karen counter’, what… what are you on about?” Evan asked.

“Evan, you’ve heard of that ‘Karen’ meme right. Actually, who am I kidding! Everyone’s heard of the meme, unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years… which could be a high possibility knowing you.”

Evan rolled his eyes. “Oi! Of course I’ve heard of the meme duhhh.” 

“Ok so, me and Alana were talking the other day and-”

“Actually you were the one doing all the talking, you can never shut that big mouth of yours.” Alana commented with a cheeky smile.

“You could have told me to shut up, but ya didn’t!” Jared exclaimed with a laugh. He looked back at Evan who was just staring at him blankly. “Umm, anyways. Alana and I were randomly texting each other, because we were bored, and I kept spamming her with ‘Karen’ memes.

“Ah yes, what we all do when we’re bored.” Evan said sarcastically.

“And then she randomly said ‘We’ve dealt with a lot of Karen's in the shop, we should have a chart to keep track’ and then there was a laughing crying emoji.”

“Yeah, that’s basically what I said and I didn’t think you would actually do it!” Alana exclaimed.

“How many tallies do you have so far?” 

Jared looked back at the board and showed it to Evan. “Five. I thought we would have more, but it’s only been like three weeks.”

“Don’t you think it’s a bit mean you're doing this-” Evan added.

Jared glared at him and added another tally mark while still keeping eye contact.

“Hey! I’m not a ‘Karen’.” he said with invisible air quotes. 

“I’m keeping that mark on just because you used air quotes, idiot.”

Evan snatched the board and threw it to the other side of the room. 

“Rude…” Jared went to the fridge and drank his remaining Fanta. 

“Anyways, I’m going to go find Zoe, see if she’s ok, you know?” Evan headed out the door with his phone in his hands. “I’ll see you guys later.”

“See ya!” the pair choired in harmony.

When Evan closed the door, Jared turned back to Alana. “So, whaddya wanna do?”

She smiled. “I don’t really know, I guess whatever’s cool with you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk why but, Jared schooling Evan on the Karen meme was just fun to write lol


End file.
